Kurama's Jealousy
by RandomBystander2020
Summary: Inspired by episode 93 of Boruto! After spending Parent and Child Day with his two children, Naruto realizes that he still has to make amends with the moody fox that's sulking inside him. Kurama's giving him the cold shoulder, & Naruto can't see why the fox is so angry! Sometimes, even the coldest tsundere characters like Kurama like to be called "cute". (Himawari and Kurama fluff)


Naruto dodges another kick from Boruto and can't help but think of how his son's skills have improved dramatically as of late.

"_Or maybe it's just because I haven't sparred with him in a while." _Naruto thinks, guilt weighing heavily on his heart. _"Next time there's a Parent and Child Day, I'm definitely making it up to Boruto, dattebayo."_

In the midst of his distraction, Boruto barely manages to land a punch on his father's cheek. Naruto stumbles back in surprise and Boruto raises his new special Parent and Child Day kunai so that the sharp tip rests just a centimeter away from his father's throat.

"I win, dattebasa." He states, with just a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

He lowers the kunai and Naruto playfully ruffles his hair with a wide grin, "Yeah, I guess you did." His smile drops when he notices Boruto's slight frown and he's immediately concerned, "What's wrong?"

Boruto pouts, "You were holding back."

"Hey, that's not it. I'm just," Naruto yawns, "a little tired."

Boruto scoffs and teases, "So tired that the great Hokage can't even hold his own against a genin?"

This time Naruto pouts and retorts, "Oi! I'd like to see you spend the whole day running around the entire village looking for a Kurama doll! Dattebayo!"

Boruto laughs and tucks his new kunai inside his weapons pouch, "Okay, okay." He relents.

Naruto huffs indignantly and tucks his own kunai away as well, "Next time, let's see how you do against an army of shadow clones."

Boruto gives him a wily grin, "You're on, old man!"

With that settled, they head back inside the house and Boruto goes to bed. Naruto was about to head to bed as well, but a slight ache in his gut reminds him that there's still one person he needs to reconcile with. So with a reluctant sigh, he sits down on the couch in the living room and closes his eyes. When he opens them, he's inside his inner mind and laying in front of him is the Kyuubi. Immediately, Naruto knows he's gonna have a hard time, because Kurama is giving him the cold shoulder (not unlike how Hinata acts after they have an argument).

Kurama notices the shift in chakra in the air and knows that the annoying blonde brat has come back for the third time that day. He pretends to not notice the blonde's presence and gives his jinchuriki the cold shoulder he rightfully deserves.

After all, what Naruto did today is absolutely unforgivable!

He got called a "baby" today.

Naruto _somehow_ got him mixed up with that idiot tanuki!

He tried asking him for chakra while chasing after a GENIN.

He told Himawari-hime that Shukaku was cuter than him!

Nope, if the idiotic blonde wants forgiveness, he's gonna have to beg for it.

"Hey, could ya snap out of it already?"

Nope, Kurama isn't even going to give him a response. Maybe if he ignores him, he'll get the hint and go away.

"Me praising Shukaku was just a figure of speech!"

Kurama inwardly growls, but continues to give Naruto the cold shoulder.

"Hey, c'mon, ya know!?"

"_How irritating can he be? Doesn't he get the hint that I don't want to talk right now!?"_

Naruto, like the idiot he is, keeps pushing, "Kurama….. Kuraa-ma?"

"_THAT'S IT!"_

Kurama opens his eyes to glare down at the blonde, "Hn!?" He growls in pure annoyance. Naruto jumps at the sudden reaction from the usually stoic fox. Kurama gets up into a low crouch as if he were about to pounce. His nose only a meter away from Naruto's head, and his nine tails lashing out dangerously behind him. Naruto is sweating from the amount of killing intent that has suddenly erupted in the cage.

"Ku-Ku-Kurama!"

Said fox demon growls and snaps, "What do you want, brat?!"

Naruto waves his hands above his head in a fail attempt to appease the angry fox, "Hey, hey! What did I do to make you so mad!?" He asks, panic rising in his voice.

"YOU SAID SHUKAKU WAS CUTER!" The Kyuubi roars in fury.

"But you hate being called cute!"

"NOW HIMAWARI-HIME LOVES THAT IDIOT TANUKI MORE THAN ME!"

A bead of sweat runs down Naruto's forehead, _"Himawari-hime?"_ Then at that moment, Naruto realizes what's gotten Kurama so riled up. He breaks into a smile and teases, "Kurama… are you jealous?" Kurama swipes out a paw in an attempt to claw his head off and Naruto barely ducks in time.

That definitely answers Naruto's question.

"You know, if you wanted Himawari to call you cute, all you had to do was ask." The blonde teases even harder.

Underneath his orange fur, Kurama is blushing very, very hard and trying not to drop his mask in front of his host, "SHUT UP!" He roars. Naruto laughs and this only makes Kurama even more furious, _"How dare he!"_

Before he could take another swipe at his head, Naruto poofs away and finally leaves. Kurama is left alone in his cage to sizzle silently in his rage and embarrassment.

HoNaruto opens his eyes and to his surprise, Hinata is sitting by his side with her brows furrowed with worry.

"Is everything alright, Naruto?" She asks softly, "I felt your chakra… the Kyuubi…"

Naruto pulls her into a hug and plants a soft kiss on her temple, "Nothing's wrong. Kurama is just a little cranky is all. But I'll fix it tomorrow."

Hinata raises a brow, "Tomorrow?" she questions, not really sure if she should be concerned or not.

.

.

.

Naruto chuckles mischievously and NOW Hinata is worried.

The next morning, Himawari wakes up extra early so that she can have time to play with her new Shukaku doll before she has to eat breakfast.

With a bright smile on her face, she squeezes the plush toy to her chest and says, "Ohayo, Shukaku-kun!" The verbal greeting automatically causes the plush toy in her arms to purr. Himawari giggles and hops out of bed.

Throughout her normal morning routine, the tanuki is always by her side. After she brushes her hair, she borrows her brother's comb (to Boruto's misery) to smooth down the tanuki's fuzzy fur. After brushing her teeth, she pretends to brush the tanuki's fangs with a popsicle stick. After getting dressed, she takes a bright yellow ribbon and ties a big bow around the tanuki's neck.

Himawari loves her new toy, especially since it was her father who got it for her.

"Hima-chan! Boruto! Breakfast is ready!" Hinata calls from downstairs.

Himawari grabs her toy and runs down the stairs, "Coming!" She responds. As she enters the kitchen, right away, she notices that her father's chair is empty. While this usually wouldn't be the first time her father had to leave early, Naruto had said last night that he wouldn't have to leave for work until noon. Boruto enters the room only seconds after, and he seems to notice Naruto's absence as well. Both children turn to the only adult in the room for answers.

"Kaa-chan, where's Tou-chan?" Himawari asks, her voice turning slightly sad.

Hearing his sister's disappointment causes anger to stir up in Boruto's gut and he scowls, "The old man probably took off already. He never keeps his word." He says out of childish spite.

"Boruto!" Hinata softly scolds, "I don't know where your father is, but if he did have to leave early, it was probably for the good of the village!" This only causes Boruto's scowl to worsen, but he doesn't bother to add any more biting remarks for the sake of Himawari.

Said girl can only frown at her brother's harsh words. While his words were true, Tou-chan has a very important job. Even a young girl like Himawari can understand how busy being Hokage can be. Himawari opens her mouth to defend their father, but she is interrupted by the sight of Naruto strolling into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.

Naruto walks into the kitchen and pretends to not notice the surprised expressions on his family's faces. He ruffles Boruto's hair, and picks Himawari up so that she is sitting on his shoulders.

"I have a surprise for you two!" He announces, "It's in the backyard, come on!" The trio exit the room in a flurry of excitement and go out to the backyard.

Worry sinks like a stone in Hinata's gut, _"This must be what Naruto was hinting at last night."_ She thoughtfully deduces, while setting the table.

Suddenly, she hears Boruto and Himawari scream. She's so startled, the bowl slips from her hands and crashes on the floor. Her heart leaps to her throat and she's running out of the room with a million worst-possible-scenarios running through her head.

When she bursts into the backyard, byakugan activated and her fists raised to fight, she is greeting by the sight of Himawari being chased around the backyard by a fox. Her husband and son standing on the sidelines, watching in amusement. She deactivates the byakugan and drops her fighting stance, her children are safe.

But what's with the fox?

Naruto notices his wife's confusion and gestures for her to come over. She walks up to him, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.

"Kurama got jealous of Himawari's attention to the Shukaku doll, so I allowed him to manifest so he can meet her personally." Naruto explains, the shorthand version at least. He doesn't need to go into detail about Kurama's tantrum or how the fox demon nearly clawed his head off.

Boruto and Hinata perk up at the mention of the fox demon's name, Boruto points at Naruto's stomach and asks, "Isn't that the demon that you have sealed inside you, Tou-chan?"

"And wouldn't some shinobi try and steal him?" Hinata adds. Which is true, because with Kurama outside of his cage, any foreign shinobi can simply steal him in order to gain power for their village. Which, obviously, would start the Fifth Great Ninja War.

Naruto nods and places his hand over where the seal is inked on his torso, "Yeah, but I think one day out of his cage won't do any harm. We're in a time of peace after all."

Hinata can't help but be worried, however, she lets it be and heads inside for breakfast.

Boruto seems to take his father's word for it and follows his mother inside.

Himawari squeals and hugs one of Kurama's tails, "So fluffy!" Kurama uses his nine tails to hug Himawari closer and she laughs.

Naruto is on the sidelines, laughing for an entirely different reason, which earns him a red-eyed glare from the miniaturized fox demon.

The tanuki doll lays on one of the backyard chairs, totally forgotten.

::Omake::

Kurama and Himawari are laying on her bedroom floor.

Himawari is drawing with her impressive collection of crayons, while Kurama is taking a short nap in a sunny spot near the window. The blue-eyed girl adds the last finishing details to her picture and grins.

"Kurama-nii." She calls gently.

The fox stirs, but doesn't wake.

"Kuraa-ma."

The fox lifts his head and opens his eyes, which widen to an almost comical size when he sees the girl standing in the middle of the room, with a proud smile on her face and a crayon-drawn picture displayed to him as if it were a work of art.

Many who would look at the picture wouldn't give it a second glance, and probably laugh at the poor drawing skills.

But to Kurama, it is a work of art, and he can't stop looking at it.

In the picture is a black-haired girl wearing a yellow sweatshirt and pink skirt, standing beside her is what looks like an orange fox with nine tails. Written at the top in pink crayon are the words, "Me and my best friend Kurama-nii!"

"Do you like it?" She asks cheerfully.

Kurama allows himself to smile and silently nod. Himawari's smile shines even brighter and she runs downstairs to show her mother and father. Kurama follows, and midway down the stairs he runs into Naruto.

Naruto has to blink twice when he sees the tears threatening to spill from Kurama's eyes, but for once he doesn't tease. Because only moments ago, he saw the source of those tears get pinned on the fridge.

Maybe… he should let Kurama out more often.

Even if it's a great security risk for the village.

The End


End file.
